A longtime Plymouth veterinarian – already facing abuse charges from an employee at his practice – was arrested again last week on unrelated drug charges.
Arther “Rick” Newman, 77, described on social media as “a legend in Plymouth for his love and dedication to treating family pets,” was found in his car with a crack pipe on Aug. 26, police records show.
It is the latest chapter in a two-year-long spiral for the well-known doctor, who has provided affordable veterinary care in the Plymouth area since 1974.
He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, and authorities have held hearings to determine his mental competency to stand trial.
His most recent trouble with the law came when a Massachusetts state trooper spotted him driving unusually slowly on Thursday in the parking lot of the Plymouth County Courthouse during the high-profile murder trial of Lindsay Clancy.
By the time Trooper Kas-Wayne Samuels approached Newman’s 2016 Honda Odyssey, it was parked in a handicapped space with the headlights on, according to the report.
The trooper found Newman smoking crack cocaine from a glass pipe, and an assortment of drugs including vials, bottles and approximately 400 Xanax and gabapentin pills in the car, the report says.
In a police photo, some of the pills appear to be drugs for dogs. Newman told the trooper he was a veterinarian, licensed to possess drugs, the trooper said. But his license to dispense drugs had expired in 2025, the trooper reported.
He was arrested on drug charges and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle. At his arraignment the next day, Plymouth District Court Judge Shelby Smith revoked his bail on two pending criminal cases.
Those cases began in 2024 when a former employee Newman’s veterinary practice accused him in a pattern of sexual harassment and unwanted touching. The woman went to police in November 2024 and accused him of groping, kissing and forcing her to touch him in a sexual way since the summer of 2023.
Contacted by the Independent, Newman’s attorney Krysten Condon declined to comment. However, in one police report she hinted her client and his alleged victim had been romantically involved.
In a Facebook post last month, Newman offered his own defense.
“The truth won’t actually set you free,” the Aug. 7 post reads. “Not if a narcissist got to tell their lie first.
“They don’t just tell a story; they engineer a narrative,” the post read. “They will weaponize your worst moments, completely erase their own, and sprinkle in just enough truth to make the lie flawless.
“By the time you even realize you need to defend yourself, they’ve already convinced everyone else they’re the victim. In their version of history, your reaction is the only crime.”
The charges against him are graphic and disturbing.
He allegedly repeatedly groped, kissed and forced the former employee to touch him over his pants between July 2023 and November 4, 2024, she told police. It continued, she said, until she finally quit her job in late 2024.
He sent her links to photos of women with large breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body in videos and screenshots, she alleged.
He also commented on a TikTok showing her playing with a husky, suggesting she was having sex with the dog, she said.
The married doctor texted her night and day and monitored her movements — online and in real life, she told police.
He was charged with indecent assault and battery and criminal harassment on Dec. 18, 2024, and Newman was ordered not to contact her in any way.
On Feb. 19, 2026 she reported receiving an email she believed to be from Newman, which linked to a fake porn site and a “very inappropriate picture.”
In that case, Plymouth Patrol Officer Callahan Gibbs questioned Newman at his home on Feb 21. The doctor admitted he sent the email, but said he meant to send it to his lawyer only, Gibbs wrote.
He was arrested again, this time for violating the harassment prevention order.
While at Newman’s house, Gibbs discovered pills for which Newman did not have prescriptions, the officer reported, and the vet was also charged with illegal drug possession.
While being booked at the police station on Feb. 20, 2026, Newman felt ill and was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, where he was admitted, according to court records.
A review of the state’s licensing records shows Newman still has an active veterinarian license. Until recently, he operated a pop-up veterinarian practice called Vet Pet Pals, which is now listed online as closed.
He appears to have been a beloved community doctor.
“Coming to my house to do all my dogs today,’ said one client in a Facebook post. “I don’t know any other vets who would do this. He’s the best.”
Court records show Newman was scheduled to be examined July 9 to determine if he was competent to stand trial in the indecency case. The records do not show any test results.
Newman is being held without bail at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility and is due back in court on Sept. 17.
Andrea Estes can be reached at andrea@plymouthindependent.org.